In my professional life I get grumpy about claims that there is no science that groundwater pumping is drying central sands lakes, streams, and wetlands. It’s been 10 years since the Little Plover first dried, nine years after Long Lake did the same, and a dozen years or more since the public was last able to swim at the Wolf Lake county beach. And still one hears and reads the claim of “there’s just no scientific evidence connecting groundwater pumping and drying surface waters” or “we just don’t know enough about the geology and how water moves underground.”

These claims ignore that the science of groundwater flow in general has been well known for 150 (some would argue 400) years, and that we’ve had 50 years of studies in the central sands. And that the geology of the central sands is incredibly well known because few places in the world have so many holes poked in the ground, thanks to the large number of high capacity wells.

Banned in Milwaukee

The right, suburbanites say "No light rail for Milwaukee."

James Rowen's Bio

James Rowen, a writer and consultant, has worked for newspapers, and as the senior Mayoral staffer, in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. This blog began on 2/2/ 2007. Posts run also at various news sites, including The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Purple Wisconsin."